Recipe

You can taste all the hues of autumn in this rustic, crisp, and spicy tart. The flavors of both crystallized and fresh ginger come together with ripe pears for an impressive but easy dessert. Prepare it either in a 10-inch tart shell or in mini tartlets for serving at larger parties or dinners.

For the vanilla whipped cream:

1 pint organic heavy cream

1/3 cup organic powdered sugar, sifted

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract

Directions

To prepare the crust:

In a food processor, combine the flours, sugar, crystallized ginger, pecans, and salt and pulse for 10 seconds. Add the cubes of chilled butter, a few at a time, pulsing on and off for 1 minute, until the mixture looks like bread crumbs.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla, pulsing on and off until the mixture is combined.

Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Reserve the remaining crust dough for the top of the tart.

Add the remaining ingredients, mixing with a spatula to coat the pears evenly.

To assemble the tart:

Arrange the pears in an attractive even layer in the crust and pour the remaining liquid on top.

Remove the extra crust dough from the refrigerator and crumble evenly on top.

Place the tart on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let cool on a wire rack and serve warm with the whipped cream.

For the vanilla whipped cream:

Chill the metal bowl for a standing mixer (or if you’re using a hand mixer, a stainless-steel bowl) for about 10 minutes in the freezer. Pour the cream into the chilled bowl and beat with the whisk attachment on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed as the cream thickened, Slowly pour in the powdered sugar, and when the cream has thickened, add the pinch of salt and the vanilla. Continue beating until fully whipped.

Notes

I clean out my coffee grinder and blitz the nuts in small batches. Just be careful not to overgrind—you’ll end up with nut butter!